


It’s Always Better When We’re Together

by butyoucantnemo



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Female Peter Parker, Gen, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Nervous Peter Parker, Precious Peter Parker, Slow Dancing, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22966429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butyoucantnemo/pseuds/butyoucantnemo
Summary: Penny doesn’t know how to slow dance and it’s the day before homecoming. But when Tony catches her watching a dancing tutorial and decides to step in and help, suddenly the thought of slow dancing doesn’t seem so worrisome.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 23
Kudos: 174





	It’s Always Better When We’re Together

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve seen this prompt done a few times before but I wanted to take a spin at it, so viola!
> 
> (All mistakes are mine.)
> 
> Hope you all enjoy! :)

Penny Parker can’t dance; well she can dance—almost everybody can—but that doesn’t mean she’s good at it. And that’s the state Penny finds herself the night before homecoming, looking at dancing videos—specifically slow dancing videos—on YouTube to try to gain some semblance of coordination and skill, as to not make a big fool of herself in front of the whole school. If only that radioactive spider had given her the ability to dance well, to go along with the crazy athletic expertise she now possessed. But no, she’s stuck feeling embarrassed and a little lost as to what she should do. 

It’s Friday, her weekly lab day with Tony—also known as her favorite day of the week—and she’s sitting in his private floor’s living room, waiting for him to get out of his meetings so they can work together on their projects. She already blew through her weekend homework, meaning the only thing on her list of properties is to learn how to slow dance. Simple, right? If only, she thinks, if only. 

With nothing else to do, she looks up a slow dancing video for beginners and starts watching, hoping it’s simple enough for her to follow along. Once she starts with one video, another plays, and another plays and soon enough, Penny has no clue how much time as passed, choosing to focus on the moves of the dancers instead of the time. That being said, she doesn’t hear Tony coming out of the elevator behind her, ready to head down to the lab. 

Tony sighs as he exits the elevator, exhausted after the constant stream of meetings but happy to finally be able to hang out with his favorite kid. He spots Penny sitting on the couch with her head down, looking at her phone and walks up behind her to give her a little scare still she had yet to acknowledge his presence. 

With his hands up, ready to gently shove the back of her shoulders, he notices her watching a slow dancing video and hesitates, wondering why in the world the superhero is watching that kid of video, before remembering that the kid’s homecoming dance is the next day. 

Ready to question her, Tony shoves here shoulder a little, exclaiming, “Boo,” and watches her jump in her seat, gasping, before quickly hiding her phone away from his view. 

“What the hell, Mr. Stark! Don’t scare me like that,,” gasped Penny as she moved to shove her phone in the pocket of her jeans.

“Thought you had that spider sense, kid. Can’t you tell when someone’s coming?” snarked Tony as he watched in barely contained amusement as she tried to rein herself in from the scare while also trying to hide away her phone, as if he hadn’t caught her watching the video.

“Um…I might have been a little d-distracted,” Penny said sheepishly, her cheeks heating up in embarrassment, praying to everything holy that he hadn’t seen what she was watching. 

Smirking, Tony remarks, “Yeah? Well what’s got you so distracted Ink Pen?”

Rolling her eyes half-heartedly at the ridiculous name, Penny responds, “Nothing, Mr. Stark. Just a s-silly little video,” as she glances around the room, avoiding eye contact which her mentor in hopes that he couldn’t see though the painfully obvious lie. 

Smirking, Tony asks, “You sure you weren’t watching a slow dance tutorial? ‘Cause it sure looked like that to me,” his smirk consuming his whole face when Penny’s face grew even redder in embarrassment. 

Wishing to be anywhere else then where she was right now, Penny stammers, “N-no, I w-wasn’t watching anything like t-that,” wincing at how nervous she sounded over a silly little video. 

Deciding to cut her a little slack, Tony rounds the couch to stand in front of the flustered teenager and stretches out his arm, offering her his hand. Upon seeing her utterly bemused expression, he rolls his eyes good-naturedly with a soft smile gracing his face and says, “C’mon Spiderling, let’s dance.”

With a hesitancy that is not uncommon with Penny, she shyly grabs her mentor’s outstretched palm, letting him guide her to the middle of the ginormous living room. At her ever-present reluctant expression, Tony softens his smile even more and tells her warmly, “Relax sweetheart. Let me help you out.”

Taking a big breath, Penny puts her hand on her pseudo-father’s strong shoulder and lets him pull her into his comforting arms, with her head resting on his chest as they begin to sway. 

“FRIDAY, turn on my slow dance playlist,” Tony says as FRIDAY begins playing “Better Together” by Jack Johnson while the two continue to sway, this time to the tempo of the song. 

Grinning and lifting her head, Penny asks, “You have a slow dance playlist?” causing Mr. Stark to chuckle and answer, “All Pepper’s doing. That women loves a good slow dance.

Laughing loudly at his comment, Penny lays her head back on his chest, smiling, and closes her eyes, just enjoying being in the presence of one of her favorite person’s arms, remarking offhandedly, “Did y’know that I love Jack Johnson? His music has calmed me down from the worst anxiety attacks and nightmares.”

At that comment, Tony tilts his head down at his kid and asks, “And did you know that you’re supposed to calm me whenever you’re feeling too overwhelmed? I promised May to be on call for you whenever you need me so take that advantage, kiddo. Don’t be scared to come to me for help.”

Looking up, her eyes shining with so much gratitude and love, Penny softly answers, “I know, Mr. Stark. I know I can always trust you to be there for me.”

“Then call me next time you’re feeling overwhelmed; I don’t care if it’s an anxiety attack or a nightmare or even just school-related stress. I’m always here to help,” Tony tells her in a stern but kind voice, hoping that his words resonate with Penny so that she understands how much he cares for her. 

Seeming to understand everything he’s saying, Penny just smiles and tells him with teary eyes, “Thank you, Mr. Stark, for everything; for keeping me safe on patrols, for letting me invade your space and work in the lab with you, for being so kind and understanding of my problems, for teaching me how to slow dance,” she adds with a little chuckle. “Just thank you,” she finishes, pouring as much emotion as she can into her voice. 

By the end of her speech, Tony notices his own tears threatening to spill over and quickly brings his mentee in for a long hug, leaving them both breathless with smiles on their faces. 

Sniffing, Tony remarks, “Well thank you for your kind words and letting me teach you how to slow dance. You’re not half bad, kiddo.” After one last squeeze in the hug, Tony lets go of his kid and they return to their previous dancing positions, once again swaying as another song comes on over the speakers. 

They continue to slow dance in peaceful silence, the only noise being the songs FRIDAY plays and the sounds of their feet shuffling against the living room tile, until Tony pipes up with a smirk, “So who are you planning on using these newfound dancing skills with?”

Flushing in embarrassment, Penny starts softly banging her head against the man’a chest as she groans out, “No one; I’m just going with Ned and MJ.”

“Mhm, sure kid. Just be safe; I don’t need a grandkid or anything like that just yet. I’m too young spritely for any of that business,” Tony snarks, chuckling lowly as his kid bursts out laughing, throwing her head back in amusement. 

“No need to worry about that, old man. It’ll be a few years until any of that happens,” Penny responds, not ignoring how Tony called her future kids his grandchildren but choosing not to bring it up again as she continues to laugh. 

They never do make it to the lab, instead choosing to continue dancing until Pepper comes and joins them. Upon seeing the women, Penny beckons her to join and the three spend the rest of their Friday night taking turns dancing and laughing with each other. And just like that, Penny wasn’t worried about the thought of slow dancing.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading and let me know how you liked it!! :)


End file.
